DAVE LOMBARDO: The Last Communication I Had With Members Of SLAYER

Former SLAYER and current PHILM drummer Dave Lombardo took part in a press conference in São Paulo earlier this month ahead of his Brazilian clinic tour. You can now listen to the question-and-answer session in the YouTube clip below (courtesy of Patricia Laroca of Rock na Mochila).

Asked if still has any contact with his former bandmates in SLAYER, Lombardo replied: "No, we lost communication ever since February 2013. The only text message I received was [in May 2013] from [bassist/vocalist] Tom [Araya], and he said, 'Dave, Jeff [Hanneman, SLAYER guitarist] died.' And that's when I was… I had just landed. I went to Israel and I did a drum clinic, and I landed in Los Angeles and I received that text from Tom. And that's the last communication I've had."

Lombardo was effectively fired from SLAYER after sitting out the band's Australian tour in February/March 2013 due to a contract dispute with the other members of the group. Filling in for him was Jon Dette (TESTAMENT, ANTHRAX).

In a recent interview with Brazil's Portal 7, Lombardo was asked if he has any plans to ever get back together with the members of SLAYER. He replied: "I have no plans. I mean, they can knock on my door, but I don't know if I'll answer. [Laughs]"

Lombardo continued: "I don't know. Right now I'm focused on my new band, I'm focusing on my drum clinics, writing music, on staying creative. And I just stay focused and don't let what happened in the past bother me or in any way inhibit my progress with the future."

Lombardo told "Let There Be Talk" podcast about the musical chemistry of the original SLAYER lineup: "I appreciate the nucleus of the band. Like [John] Bonham. When Bonham was part of [LED] ZEPPELIN. When his son [Jason] took over, oh my God. C'mon. Really? I have respect for Jason and for what he's done, but when he put a double-bass pedal on a single bass drum, that just blew it for me. It's, like, 'Really, dude? Your dad was about single bass.'

"There is a certain magic — just like with SLAYER, just like with AC/DC with Bon Scott — there's a certain magic when you have those musicians and nobody could replace that. Nobody. That's it. You can't. Yeah, SLAYER's new drummer [Paul Bostaph], yeah, a lot of fans like him. But there's that magic. It's chemistry. It's like when you meet a girl and you two get along really well, and it's like a chemistry; it's something special. Same thing with the band: you get these four guys, [and] they may hate each other, but on stage, there's magic. And that's what's missing, I personally believe."

PHILM will release its sophomore album, "Fire From The Evening Sun", on September 16 (one day earlier internationally) via UDR. The band's lineup is completed by guitarist/vocalist Gerry Paul Nestler (CIVIL DEFIANCE),and bassist Francisco "Pancho" Eduardo Tomaselli (WAR).